Parry or perry?
parry is a verb meaning “To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.)”; perry is a noun meaning “A fermented alcoholic beverage made from pears, similar to hard apple cider”. Use parry as a verb and perry as a noun (parry is also a noun: “A defensive or deflective action; an act of parrying”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) perry is about 6.0 times as common as parry.
What is the difference between parry and perry?
| parry | perry | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.) A defensive or deflective action; an act of parrying A simple defensive action designed to deflect an attack, performed with the forte of the blade | A fermented alcoholic beverage made from pears, similar to hard apple cider |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | parries, parrying, parried | perries |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpæɹ.i/ | /ˈpɛɹ.i/ |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words | 17 times per million words |
Sources: parry and perry in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of parry and perry
parry
- 1
To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.)
- 2
A defensive or deflective action; an act of parrying
- 3
A simple defensive action designed to deflect an attack, performed with the forte of the blade
- 4
A defensive move intended to change the direction of an incoming strike to make it miss its intended target, rather than block and absorb it; and typically performed with an open hand in a downward…
perry
- 1
A fermented alcoholic beverage made from pears, similar to hard apple cider
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, parry or perry?
parry appears 2.8 times per million words; perry 17 times per million words.
parry 2.8 times per million wordsperry 17 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).